Pithy Gems from Matthew Henry. We cannot expect too little from man, nor too much from God. A life spent in the service of God and communion with him is the most pleasant life that anyone can live in this world. The Bible is a letter God has sent to us. Prayer is a letter we send to Him. We should take heed of pride. It is the sin that turned angels into devils. God is either your best friend or your worst enemy. Knowledge is vain and fruitless, which is not reduced to practice. Out of Christ, God is a consuming fire. In Christ, God is a reconciled Father. Our temptations, if not yielded to, are not sins, they are afflictions only. Sin is the sickness, disease, and torment of the soul. Christ came to take away sin, and so to heal the soul. A man may go idle to hell, but he who will go to heaven must be diligent. It is the duty of Christians to desire and aim at and press towards perfection in grace and holiness. Pride is a subtle sin. It creeps into our pious duties before we are aware. If God does not give His people what they ask for, it is because He knows they do not need it and that it is not for their good. Even the richest of men are indebted to the mercy of God for their daily bread. We cannot alter the disposals of providence, therefore we must humbly submit and resign ourselves to them. No guilt is so great, but there is a remedy in Christ's blood which atones for it. No corruption is so strong, but there is a remedy in His grace which can subdue it. Those who are passing with Christ over the ocean of this world must expect storms. The great intention of the blessed Jesus in the redemption he wrought is to separate our hearts from sin. In the gospel there is a salve for every sore and a remedy for every malady. There is no spiritual disease, but there is power in Christ for the cure of it.
